A Knitting Update

I finally finished The Neverending Weasley  Jumper. Oh my word, that took a long, long time. It was meant to be easy. In terms of knitting complexity I suppose it was - it's basically stocking stitch. I picked up a few new techniques about finishing off sections and doing necklines and so on but ultimately it wasn't hard. It just took soooooooooooo long to finish.

Then as is usual with me, I got complete post-craft ennui and hated it. I can't get over the feeling that it's too big and too shapeless and too rubbish. Catherine said she loved it and it's the perfect Sunday cosy jumper but ach, I wish I had made it a size or two down. It was meant to be oversized but maybe not quite that much?

I then had a prolonged rest. My current problem is that I don't have the right wool for all the projects I want to start and I can't find things that I want to do that suit the wool I do have. So I set to with a random pretty shade of wool and vague thoughts of attempting some sort of lacy, holey type pattern - Ravelry provided me with a link to this and away I went.

(If I were less honest I would skate over the fact that I was going to make handwarmers but they ended up so big I had to turn it into a snood. Ho hum. This is what happens when you don't know the size of wool you're using and pick any random pair of needles.)

End result: a cute snood!

I'm still super novicey at knitting so I'm taking every project as a chance to learn something new. In this one I managed k2tog and skp and how to do a yarn over properly. Woo! It was very pleasing to knit up as well - anything would seem fun after approx 6 months of chuffing stocking stitch but this was genuinely very soothing to make.

Up next...no idea! I need to investigate some patterns for all the wool I seem to have collected. Eventually I want to give circular and cable needles a try but they both scare the bejesus out of me at the moment, so give it time.

A Blogging Good Read - March

Hello everyone. Joining me for Blogging Good Read this month are my pal Lee who you can find on Twitter here and Becks who's on Twitter here. She hasn't blogged for aaaaages. Bring it back, I miss it!

What books did we read?

Lee went for 44 Scotland Streetby Alexander McCall Smith:

I first picked up this book as a real fan of Alexander McCall Smith's work. This is largely due to the style of his writing and the ease with which I found myself immersed in his worlds. This book was no exception, in fact it became my favourite of all the series that he has written, and when I was asked to participate in BGR, I thought it provided the perfect opportunity to revisit it.

This book is the first in the Scotland Street series, based on the lives of a group of residents based in an Edinburgh building. The story revolves around their interactions with one another, and those they engage with outside of the building. The characters are what totally make this book for me, they are such a wonderfully diverse group. I really enjoy how the author presents a fully rounded, fleshed out story for each and every one of them. He lets the reader see them, flaws and all, with humour and affection, so even the seemingly less likeable characters feel fully rounded and believable and you understand their behaviour, even if you don't agree with it.

I also really enjoy the book's depiction of Edinburgh, the city I've adopted as my home. I think it captures the spirit of the city and its residents beautifully, with a real warmth shown by the author that mirrors my own. I am happy to say I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading this book, and now plan to use it as the perfect excuse to continue on with the whole of the series (some re-reads/some first time reads.)


Ahhh, this was like revisiting an old friend. Lee tipped me off to the existence of these books years ago (we even went to see a performance of this at Fringe once, high up in an attic in a decrepit Edinburgh building). I glommed all the ones that had been published at the time, then eagerly hunted for the others as they turned up in the library. It's been a few years since I picked one up though and this was a really nice return into a world that's very pleasant to dip back into. I think the fact this story was originally serialised means it's got quite a different vibe to a traditionally written story - the chapters are shorter and the plot unfolds in a subtly different way to a more standard book - but the overall impression is really soothing and fun.

My thoughts on the characters always swither a bit over time but poor Bertie always breaks my heart. I know things change as the series goes on but he's so downtrodden and angry about it here that I want to climb into the book and slap his awful mother. Grrrrr. She's only just worse than Awful Bruce. I defy anyone to read it and not want to hit both of them with a(n organic, ethically sourced) kipper.

Did Becks enjoy it?

I have to confess, I didn’t read this book for the review but that’s only because I’ve been a fan of the 44 Scotland Street series for years now. Having missed out on The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency I came a little late to the McCall Smith phenomenon and this was my first introduction to him. I fell in love immediately. I love books that are focused on people and this is all about the lives of the various residents of 44 Scotland Street. Pat, Bruce, Domenica Macdonald, Angus, Matthew and the absolutely brilliant Bertie. If you read this book and feel bad for Bertie and his overbearing mother, then don’t worry, Bertie can stick up for himself as you will discover as the series unfolds!

Easy to read, mostly due to the fact that the chapters are incredibly short (this book was originally published as a serial in The Scotsman) and mostly a heartwarming read. If you’re looking for a great series of books to read, you can’t go wrong with this one.

Becks picked Gulliver's Travelsby Jonathan Swift:

Over the past couple of times I have taken part in Alex’s BGR I seem to have developed a reputation for picking truly heinous books. This time I was determined to make it better. Fail.

I’m always looking for ways to expand my reading and for the past few years have tried to make more effort to read Classics and non-fiction, as well as my normal fare. Somehow, and I can’t really understand how, I’d got it into my head that Gulliver’s Travels was a children’s Classic. I can kind of see what happened – I knew that there was something about a man stumbling across a village of tiny people and they think he’s a giant and tie him up – you know, I just assumed. I settled down to read what I thought would be a nice easy children’s read and was instead confronted by an almost insurmountable wall of text and a storyline that just confused the hell out of me. I spent my time battling through it (and trust me, ‘battling’ is the appropriate word here) feeling as if there was a much bigger meaning just hovering out of my brain’s reach that I just somehow wasn’t getting. And because I didn’t get the bigger picture I was left basically reading a book where some guy gets on a boat, gets shipwrecked, ends up on an island as a giant, escapes, goes back on a boat, gets abandoned on an island as a little miniature person, escapes…

There was definitely a point being made about politics in this book. But because I wasn’t quite grasping what that point was – mostly because I’m not an expert on the political atmosphere in the 1700s when this book was written. I can only apologise for inflicting this book on two other people.

What did Lee think?

When I first found out this book had been selected I was really pleased, as it is one of those books that has always been on the 'to read' list, but which I have never found/made the time to do so. Unfortunately, however, this book turned out to be one I really struggled to enjoy. I found it very hard to settle into the world and language of this book. After three attempts at reading this book, all of which ended in failure past the first few chapters, I turned to the David Hyde Pierce narrated audio book. Here, I must admit, the tale was made more bearable due to his marvellous delivery. Despite this, the book still felt like a slog and I must confess had it not been for BGR I do not think I would of persevered with it.

I was surprised to discover that Gulliver's visit to Liliput is just actually the first in a number of travels that Gulliver makes throughout this book, but my overriding feeling, unfortunately, was that I wished he'd only made the one!


As for me, I don't think I'm being dramatic when I say that this was the sloggiest slog I have ever had to slog through for Blogging Good Read. I'd never read it before but I associated it in my mind with things like Lorna Doone and Treasure Island - classics that might be a lot more dense than modern children's literature but were still entertaining to read. Well, guess who was WRONG there?

I just didn't get it. I think it was political satire or some sort of allegory about the failings of human nature. If I'd been reading it in the early 1700s when it was written then I'd probably have been chuckling about the clever in-jokes but as a modern reader, it didn't work on that level at all for me. So what you're left with is a man getting on a ship and having a horrible time in a weird, foreign land, then doing it again. And again. And again. STOP GETTING IN BOATS YOU FOOL.


I chose Murder Must Advertiseby Dorothy L. Sayers:

The usual BGR dilemma struck here. This isn't technically my favourite of the Wimsey novels (that's Busman's Honeymoon FYI) but I can't recommend the concluding book of a romance arc as what might be people's introduction to an author because you have to read the earlier ones first or it doesn't work. Murder Must Advertise is my favourite of the more standalone Wimsey novels and I think it's a really good blend of Sayers' mixture of solid detective fiction plotting, brilliant characterisation and erudite prose. Much as I love Sayers, I struggle with the bellringing one and the Scottish dialect one. Murder Must Advertise is a lot more accessible and a lot more fun.

Lord Peter Wimsey goes undercover at an advertising agency to investigate the death of one of their members of staff. There's a subplot about drug smuggling and some glorious evening romps along with the Bright Young Things at their parties and it all adds up to a very satisfying and extremely entertaining detective novel.

Sayers worked in advertising and you can really tell - the office scenes are so vivid, funny and full of subtle details. Even though it was written and set in the 1930s, in some ways not a lot has changed and I really love that element of recognising the usual office characters and habits, even though so much time has passed.


What did Becks think?

This book was a much welcomed break from Gulliver’s Travels and I gobbled it up like the light tasty treat that it is. Crime is not my usual fare but when it’s served up with a dollop of 1930s fluff then it’s not hard to swallow. (I don’t know where the food metaphors are coming from.)

This was easy to read, with characters that you can’t help but love and actually does a pretty good job at keeping you guessing until the end. I’m a sucker for anything that has a bit of Bright Young People in it and this has these guys in in spades. I’m pretty sure I would have made an excellent member of the De Momerie crowd featured in the book. I hadn’t read any other books of Sayers but she is definitely on the list now of ones to look out for.

How about Lee?

Now this was a book I can say I liked, but not loved. I was impressed with the use of language, and I thought the author's style was wonderful throughout. However, I struggled to engage with the book at first. As the story developed though, I felt it built up a quicker pace, and I found myself much more involved from this point. One of the big plus points for me was that the book provided an interesting and electic mixture of characters. The asscioated inner office politics and rivalaries. I very much enjoyed the author's descriptions of the 'Bright Young Things' pack and their inclusion to the story. This helped to depict the era clearly in the mind.

Before reading this book, I was not previously familiar with the Lord Peter Wimsey series, other than having heard of them from this blog's author. The character of Wimsey himself was introduced under an alias in this book, which provided the first of many interesting plot twists and turns occuring throughout. I would be intrigued enought to try another book in the series, but I cannot say it would be top of the 'to read' list.


TL:DR: we all hated Gulliver.

Thanks for joining in again guys! 

I'll be back next month and the books we'll be reading are Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier, The World According to Annaby Jostein Gaarder and 84 Charing Cross Roadby Helene Hanff.

(More) New Glasses

My glasses addiction is getting nearly as bad as my shoe habit. I only used to have two pairs. For years and years, that was it, then at last count I somehow had eleven. How did that happen? And I'm still on the hunt for the elusive perfect green pair. Luckily Glasses Direct keep enabling me. Previously I've known exactly what I wanted from there and just ordered it but this time I was tempted by ALL THE THINGS. What's a girl to do but give the free home trial a go?



Yup, I mainly went for Scout glasses - they have such a nice colourful range that I always gravitate towards them when I'm browsing. The home trial option is super speedy and has the added bonus that you can do a mini specs parade in the office and get the team to help you decide which make you look most beautiful, rather than standing in an opticians and squinting blindly at the mirror. Score.

Alas my face was not playing ball when I tried to take trial pics of all the specs so you'll have to take my word for it that I looked extremely beautiful in all of them (naturally!). In summary, working from top to bottom in the above pic:

- Lush!
- Too big and chunky for my face.
- Ok but not a wow.
- Ace!

So I'd narrowed it down to red specs and Stormtrooper specs:





It was a hard choice but I went for...

RED SPECS!

Emily by Scout, to be exact. They are super duper lightweight (so light that you put them on and think "huh, these don't feel like there's anything on my face") with a lovely matt effect finish. It always takes me ages to get used to new glasses when they're a different shape and I battled for ages with not thinking I suited bigger frames but I was smitten with these straight away. All hail the big frames!



And while Glasses Direct were kind enough to send me this pair for review, because they're lovely like that, I do spend my own hard-earned cash with them as well. When their offers are that good, you kinda have to! I treated myself to a nice blue-framed pair of Scout Firework glasses and this Festival pair with a sunglasses tint on the lenses just before my January holiday. Total cost £55. Is it any wonder I've ended up with so many pairs?!

*[]*

A Treat For The Eyes

Huzzah. Tis Valentine's Day, aka time to rejoice over the sexiness of sexy men. Previous lustfests can be found here.

Topping my personal list this year are these two absolute beauts.

And posh boys with cats.

I much prefer Speccy Hemworth to Thor, don't you?

Soz, it's pretty much all actors this year. Have I been watching a lot of Netflix? Yes, yes I have. Suits is great btw.

If you don't like Stanley Tucci then I'm afraid there's something wrong with you.

As if Jurgen Klopp came to where I work on one of my days off. AS IF. (The volunteers were most impressed with how charming he was).

Oh Neville. You grew up fiiiiiine.

I have not one but TWO new favourite skinny wretches this year. Basically obsessed with The Flash and Tattoo Fixers right now.

I'm still extremely fond of a fit ginge.

And Matt Damon, specially as Jason Bourne.

Finally, the eternal loveliness that is Mr Cavill. I wish he'd bulk down a bit but you can't have everything. He is still very pretty.

Bonus: these two. Because ermagerd, The Man From U.N.C.L.E has some serious repressed sex appeal going on.

A Blogging Good Read - February

Lack of internet has meant a brief hiatus over here - bet you didn't notice! All sorted now though and normal service can resume with the first Blogging Good Read of the year. Char and Lucy are back for more reading and reviewing.


I went for an old favourite - I Capture The Castleby Dodie Smith:



As you probably know if you've read more than about two BGR posts, my book tastes lean largely towards novels set in country houses. No surprise that I love I Capture The Castle then, is it? I'm just surprised I haven't chosen it already!

 The Mortmain family are rather down on their luck - a castle might be a romantic place to live but when your entire family income rests upon the shoulders of an author with writer's block, life isn't exactly full of luxuries. The Mortmain's social circle expands when a rich American family inherit the local hall and move in. The two sisters naturally see the American men as their way out of poverty (in a romantic way, obvs) and their pursuit unfolds, complete with an infamous fur coat incident.

The story is narrated by Cassandra, the younger of the two Mortmain sisters, and as with all first-person narratives, if you don't warm to her voice then you're probably going to struggle with the book a bit. I love her and I adore the book. It doesn't tread the path you expect and it doesn't end on the obvious note either. The fact that the girls basically have no money and no real prospects to escape comes across as a rather grim reality (albeit in picturesque surroundings) rather than just being a plot point. The book is still a joy though. Read it.

(I'm also going to recommend the 2003 film, mainly for young Henry Cavill.)

Did Lucy like it?

This book has become something of a cult classic recently but I must admit that when I read it some years ago I was not enamoured, though on paper a book about a young woman living a secluded life in a tumbledown castle with her eccentric family should be right up my street.

But I just didn’t get the hype. I found the characters quite fickle and self-serving and not likeable at all, and I find the way Cassandra addresses the reader directly quite jarring (I never used to like the straight-to-camera bits on Blossom or Clarissa either). I would have liked to have chance to read this again now to see if I still felt this way or if I’d missed some nuance the first time round and not really understood it, but unfortunately life got in the way and I didn’t have the time. It will be interesting to see what the others say about it and if they can convince me of a re-read!


What did Char think?

I'm ashamed to admit that I only read this book for the first time in March 2015. Since then I've listened to the Radio 4 dramatisation, and then read it again and thoroughly enjoyed it a second time around, too. I love Cassandra's way with words as she makes the castle come alive in her descriptions. Obviously, I like the other characters as well, but Cassandra stands out to me with her wry wit and her outlook on life. Definitely a book I'll keep coming back to.

Char picked Swallows and Amazonsby Arthur Ransome:



When my Mum was young, she lived in the Scottish Highlands and had access to an island and their own rowing boat. She used to tell me of this and I was always super jealous. Not many islands in the Midlands! I think this is the reason that I went through a childhood phase of reading as many island-y adventure books as I could get my hands on. I loved Enid Blyton's The Secret Island and Swallows and Amazons was up there - a book I read so many times. 

It's probably been fifteen years since my last read, but picking it up again made me remember how much I enjoyed it. I did this time around as well, although this time the parents' comment from the end of the book rather resonated with me. In response to the children saying they are planning to come back to the island every year, forever, their parents tell them that this is what everyone thinks when they are young. A poignant reminder that things move on?


I love this book so much. Ok, so I'm not entirely captivated by all the sailing malarkey (boats are decidedly not my thing) but it's easy enough to skip over those parts and just enjoy the rest of this rollicking good yarn. As Char has already mentioned, it's very like The Secret Island in tone and that's probably my favourite Blyton book, so it's a good sign.

Rereading it this time, I was struck by just how ace the parents are. The infamous telegram from their father at the beginning of the book has always really amused me but this time round I really appreciated how their mum lets them get on with their adventures. Obviously you'd never actually do this with your kids in real life (well maybe they did in the 50s, who knows?) but as a fictional scenario it works so perfectly and the conversations she has with them are utterly charming and adorable. In fact, all of the grownups are great. I'd completely forgotten the whole Captain Flint/Uncle Jim misunderstanding, apology and then the wonderful Battle of Houseboat Bay. Like the whole book, it's marvellous.

Did Lucy like it?

This was the only one of the three that I’ve not already read and -confession time- I haven’t managed to get very far through it, even though it was on my to-read list anyway. I gather it’s a bit “Blyton on a Boat”, telling of the adventures of four siblings who go off on a camping trip on an island by themselves, getting into all sorts of scrapes. It took me a little while to get into the linguistic style, and I really struggled through the first few chapters which were very heavy on the sailing terminology, but I’m actually starting to really enjoy it now and yearn for a simple life of camp fires, minnows, and vivid imagination!

Lucy chose The Readerby Bernard Schlink:




I’m a bit of a BGR veteran now and whenever I have to pick a book, I always try to go with one that has really affected me and remained in my consciousness long after I turned the final page. The Reader by Bernard Schlink certainly fulfils this condition, but I’m struggling to review it without giving away the entire plot. 

Our protagonist is Michael, a fifteen year old boy who meets an older woman by chance, and embarks on an illicit affair, in which he reads great works of literature and philosophy out loud to her in between bouts of passion, until one day she disappears. The first half of the book is the kind of writing I love, effortlessly simple and poetic, and dealing with the minutiae of the everyday.
 
Years later, Michael comes across Hanna once more, as a law student observing a Holocaust trial in which she is one of the defendants. Suddenly the pace of the book increases, or certainly the pace of my reading did, as we find out more details about Hanna’s alleged crimes, the possible motivation for her actions, and the reasons behind her plea. I devoured the last few chapters and was left reeling, mind racing with questions about culpability, shame, hindsight, and Hanna’s own question to the judge and jury: “What would you have done?”


Did Char enjoy it?

I hadn't heard of this book before so was intrigued. When the library finally managed to track it down for me, I got stuck in and was surprised at how easy I found it to immerse myself in the story. In a weird way the relationship between Hanna and Michael was probably the section I liked the most, although I thought it was clear from Michael's account that we as the reader are supposed to dislike Hanna. Yet, his obsession continues to haunt him, even though he thinks he will never see her again.

As for the reveal of the secret (I don't want to provide any spoilers!) I totally sympathised with Michael and the tough decision he had to make. I think he made the wrong choice, but can see his reasoning.

This is the point where I hold my hands up and admit I didn't read The Reader. Shame. On. Me.

I loved the film - does that count? No? Ach.  I did have every intention of reading it, I promise. The library let me down with the copy I'd reserved and then I forgot to buy one and oh dear, I am rubbish.


However, I've already read all three of the books for next month's edition! Woo me. If you want to join in with the chat and comments, we'll be reading 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith, Gulliver's Travelsby Jonathan Swift and Murder Must Advertiseby Dorothy L. Sayers. 

Thanks Char and Lucy for taking part this month. You rock.

Books Of The Year

I was pondering what I'd read during 2015 and struggling to decide on my book of the year, or even to narrow it down to a shortlist. Then, handily timed, came Janet's blog post about her 2015 reading. So I've borrowed Janet's categories (I did check first to see if she minded!) and here are my results.

Best Book You Read In 2015 (broken down by genre if necessary)

YA fiction
The Rest of Us Just Live Hereby Patrick Ness. This was easily one of the best books I read this year and it's a wonderful piece of YA fiction - clever, touching and dark.

Crime fiction
Mystery in Whiteby J. Jefferson Farjeon. Most of my crime fiction reading this year has been rereads so it seems a bit unfair to pick one of those. This was the perfect festive crime book - atmospheric, enthralling and very satisfying.

Non-fiction
I love Adam Nicolson's writing about nature - he's one of the few people who can really get the sense of a landscape onto the printed page - but I think on balance I liked Gentry: Six Hundred Years of a Peculiarly English Classbest out of his books I read this year. It's more obviously about people than nature, but it's also very much about how ties to land and the duty of care towards a place you're only a temporary custodian of can shape lives. Honorable mentions to H is for Hawk(one of my BGR picks from earlier in the year) and Empty Mansions,which although it tailed off a little towards the end, was a fascinating glimpse into a lost world of unbelievable wealth.

Literary fiction
I read very little of this genre as a rule - recommend me some good, non-pretentious options please! - but We Have Always Lived in the Castlewas a real highlight of the year. 

Romance
I really must do a proper blog post or two about romance fiction soon cos it has so many separate genres within it that I could list about another 6 categories. Laura Florand is always brilliant and she writes super fast which is always nice! Her Paris books just edge out the new La Vie en Roses series for me, so my pick of the year from her goes to All for You. Tessa Bailey's Make Meand Chase Mewere both enormous fun and I am dying to read book 3 but it's still £6 on Kindle and I'm having a stubborn strop about it because on US Amazon, the bundle of the entire trilogy is the same price. SO UNFAIR.

And onto the more specific choices!

Most Surprising (In A Good Way) Book of 2015
I'm going to go with Carry Onby Rainbow Rowell. I'm a huge fan of hers but I think Fangirl is possibly my least favourite of her books, so the prospect of a spinoff from it didn't massively thrill me. Also I was very wary of just how much of a Harry Potter ripoff it was going to come across as. I very soon forgot about that though and it's a book that totally stands (and dazzles) on its own merits.

Book You Read In 2015 That You Recommended Most To Others
The Martian. Not that many of my friends and family have similar reading tastes to me but this was a great book with pretty broad appeal, so I tipped quite a few of them off about it.

Best Series You Discovered In 2015
The Game On trilogy by Kristen Callihan. I read book 3 (The Game Plan) first, adored it and promptly snaffled up the other two. Turns out that if you tweet a book review which basically reads "NFL playing, tattoed, manbun-wearing, virgin, beta hero", I autobuy it. I love me a beta hero.

Favourite New Author You Discovered in 2015
I'd be tempted to whack Kristen Callihan on the list but it depends what she writes next - her previous books are all paranormal historical romance and I don't get on with paranormal. I had a massive Jessica Day Georgemoment in April (lots of her books were available via my Scribd subscription) and loved everything of hers - I've picked one of the Princess books for BGR but the Dragon series is also excellent and the Castle books remind me so much of Diana Wynne Jones and there can be few higher compliments than that!

Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love But Didn't
There weren't many huge disappointments this year but Janet has excellent taste in books so I was expecting her BGR choice, This is Not a Love Story, to be good and I really didn't like it.

Best Book That Was Out Of Your Comfort Zone Or Was A New Genre To You
S.by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst is probably out of most people's comfort zone - it's utterly unlike any other book I've ever come across. It's really worth the effort though.

Book You Read In 2015 That You're Most Likely To Read Again In 2016
Loads of them! If I like a book, I'm very likely to reread it so pretty much everything else I've mentioned in this post will get picked back up at some point.

Favourite Book You Read in 2015 From An Author You've Read Previously
Take your pick from several of the above!

Best Book You Read In 2015 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else
I think it's a tie between The Martian and S, both of which were BGR choices that I loved and would never have come across otherwise. Ooh, or possibly Longbournwhich was just as good as I'd been told it was.

Favourite Cover Of A Book In 2015
I don't own them, but I really want the new set of Penguin Nancy Mitford books. Those covers are stunning.

Book That Had The Greatest Impact On You In 2015
Call me shallow but I can't think of anything that was a standout.

Book You Can't BELIEVE You Waited Until 2015 To Read
Nothing is particularly springing to mind for this...um, does it count to say Carry On and The Rest of Us Only Live Here? Both authors are autobuys for me but the books were released in October and August respectively and I saved them both until the post-Christmas period, I think that deserves praise on my part!

Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc.) Be careful of spoilers!
Wow, I really can't think of anything in particular. I quite often want to fangirl with others about things I've just read but I can't recall any particular scenes.

Favourite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2015 (be it romantic, friendship, etc)
There's no concealing my love for Dominique Richard, one of Laura Florand's French chef characters, and he popped up again in All For You. (Spoiler: he's still amazing. Treat yourself to a secondhand pb copy of his book, The Chocolate Touch ) His relationship with Celie is part boss, part big brother and completely lovely. 
Mikey and Jared in The Rest of Us Just Live Here are my new favourite pair of friends though.

Most Memorable Character In A Book You Read In 2015
Mikey from The Rest of Us Just Live Here haunts me a little bit.

Genre You Read The Most From in 2015
Romance. It's always romance and only in part because they tend to be shorter and easier to glom. Having said that, I read a lot of shit this year and I really need to start being more selective about what I spend my time on.

Best 2015 Debut
Act Like Itby Lucy Parker was a very pleasant surprise and I'm really looking forward to seeing what she writes next.

Book That Was The Most Fun To Read in 2015
The Church Mice at Christmasis part of my Christmas Eve tradition and it is so much fun to read. Lovely story and inspired illustrations.

Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2015
Loads of them! It's not hard to make me cry. I had a bit of a meltdown near the end of Adorkableand the start of The Shepherd's Crownmade me absolutely sob. Heartbreakingly poignant.

Book You Read in 2015 That You Think Got Overlooked This Year Or When It Came Out
Hmmm. Maybe S? Just on the basis that I had never even heard of it before reading it for BGR and I feel like it should be a lot better known. Also on that tack, I wish a lot more people knew about the existence of Laura Florand's books. They are a complete joy.

Total number of books read in 2015
338. Busiest month was April (59) as I was on holiday for a week and in a car for pretty much four solid days driving to Orkney and back. Quietest month was July with a feeble 13 - work kicked off big style and I had zero free time.


I don't do resolutions but in 2016 I definitely need to read more quality and less rubbish. 338 is a lot of books but it's surprising when I looked back at the list of titles just how few of them really made a mark. It's not a good sign when you read the title and author details and recall nothing about the plot and characters. And no, I don't have a bad memory. They just weren't very good! I'm open to any and all recommendations so please send them my way.